Ranyouhen
by phfatbeatrice
Summary: Satoko suffers from abuse of her uncle. After so many different things have happened to go against her, she began starving herself to cope with all of the pain. She also believes that if she puts herself through this suffering, her Nii-nii will come back.
1. Chapter 1

'_Don't worry. It'll be over soon... The pain, the hunger..._' Thoughts raced through the little blonde haired girl's mind. She had big uniquely violet eyes. She went by the name Satoko Houjou. She had had a hard past, her parents dying, then her aunt and uncle beating her and her brother. As a result of the beatings, Satoko separated from her friends. The last straw had finally been broken when her brother, who she called 'Nii-nii', disappeared.

No one knew what happened to Satoko's brother, Satoshi. Most fear the worst, that the curse of Watanagashi and Oyashiro-Sama killed him. But they all cover it up, saying he 'transferred.' Satoko knew better. Her Nii-nii wouldn't transfer and leave her here to suffer, with her uncle. He was lost somewhere, but she was sure that he was alive. He had to be.

After Satoshi disappeared, Satoko got hit harder, and her uncle began taking food away from her. But as this went on, Satoko's mind raced on. '_I deserve this... for not noticing whatever pain Nii-nii was going through. I deserve to get hit. To not see my friends. Not eat. I deserve this. I don't deserve to die. That is too easy._' Satoko would always think to herself, as her uncle whipped her, telling her that she was worthless.

After the beatings, and Satoko's uncle was nice again, he offered her food, which she politely declined. She was hungry, but she needn't eat. She'd be just fine without food. Besides, she would have to eat lunch at school tomorrow. She hadn't been to school in two days. Normally her uncle never 'let' her stay home more than 2 days, because then Chie-Sensei would begin to worry about her.

When she went to sleep that night, she tried to ignore the rumbling of her stomach, and relax back. She would need her rest for school tomorrow. She needed to come up with another lie, to cover her bruises, and her absences. Hmm, this time it could be that she fell down the stairs and has been too sore to walk. That should work just fine.

"Hey, Satoko!" Mion exclaimed as Satoko walked slowly into the room, prepared for whatever questions her group had for her. "Where have you been? Are you okay?" Mion asked, walking up to Satoko, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Satoko looked up at her, with her dead eyes, and shook her head, "I'm fine. I fell down the stairs a few days ago, and I hurt my legs. But they feel better now." she said, flinching a little at Mion's hand on her shoulder. Her uncle loved to grab her there, and it was bruised.

Rena looked at Satoko carefully, "You look like you haven't slept in a while... Maybe you should go to the infirmary and take a nap?" she said, nodded a little to herself.

"I'm fine, don't worry." Satoko said, annoyance lacing her voice. She really loved that they cared so much, but it would help sometimes if they wouldn't.

Rika, Satoko's best friend, chimed in. "You're a little pale too... I don't think skipping out on the infirmary is such a good idea. Or maybe you should go home... You really don't look very good, Satoko."

"I said I'm fine, okay!" Satoko yelled, before turning and sitting down in her seat, nearly making the desk flip over from her quick movement.

"Oh... Okay..." Rika said, softly, turning to look at Mion. She pointed to the door, and Mion nodded. Rika walked to the door, prepared to lie if needed.

Mion followed, just as prepared as Rika to lie. They needed to talk about Satoko's outrageous behaviour. When she stepped out of the room, Rika was looking at her with huge worried eyes. "I think that Satoko is lying." she said, without any hesitation.

"You don't think...?" Mion said, not finishing the sentence. Everyone in the school knew about Satoko's uncle and how he would beat the Houjou children, and now that Satoshi's gone, Satoko suffers more than ever.

Rika nodded, "I think so." she sighed. "And if that's the case, we need her out of that house."

Mion nodded. "I know... But how? If we claim to be having a sleepover or something, you know that her uncle will say no."

"Mii... I know..." Rika sighed and ran her fingers through some of her hair, "We cannot kidnap her either... We don't want Ooishi-San in this." she said, thinking out loud.

"Yeah... I don't know. Let's think up some ideas during class today, and then we can talk to Rena about this also." Mion said, her leadership showing.

"Mii." Rika nodded. They both re-entered the room, and Satoko was looking right at them. "Please don't talk about me behind my back." she said, in a sincere, quiet voice.

Both Rika and Mion looked at each other before nodding to Satoko and taking their seats.

Satoko on the other hand, was now studying her lap and nearly hyperventilating. 'They know. They always know... They probably even know about my personal punishment game... Mion would anyway. She is the one that knows all about punishment games.' Satoko thought, as she got ready for class to start.

Her own punishment game was basically where she punished herself for Satoshi's disappearance. She didn't tell anyone what she did, but everything got around in this town, even if it was something never spoken. Satoko's punishment game was to deprive herself of food. Not to look pretty, not to be skinny. She was already skinny. She did it, because it made her feel better. When she was in pain, she knew that that must have been a form of the pain that Satoshi felt before he left. She didn't want to die though, so at school, she would eat her bento, but that was it. Unless she was with people. To keep her cover.

"Satoko-Chan? I need to speak with you." Satoko heard Chie-Sensei say. Her heart dropped and she let out a fearful sigh. She stood up from her desk, and looked up at Chie-Sensei, "Yes, Ma'am." she said, in a soft fearful tone.

When she got over to Chie-Sensei, she felt her teacher's hand on her back, guiding her to her office. "Come on, I don't want the other students overhearing." Satoko knew that this was going to be about her uncle again. But she deserved this punishment, and she felt like if she endured it, then her Nii-Nii would be proud when he came back.

As Satoko stepped into Chie-Sensei's office, she closed the door. "What did you need me for?" she said, softly. She didn't want to make eye contact, because she had with her friends, and they had almost immediately known that there was something wrong.

"I'm worried about you." Chie-Sensei started, looking at Satoko with caring eyes. "I've noticed that you've been missing a lot of school lately, and alongside that, it seems as though you look much more unhealthy then you did before." she said, looked Satoko up and down. On her hands, Chie-Sensei could see every tendon, every bone. Satoko's face was sunken in, and Chie-Sensei could see the suffering that she rested with.

"I'm fine. I've just been a little sick." Satoko said, knowing that she couldn't explode on Chie-Sensei like she did her friends. That would've been bad.

"Is your uncle still in town?" Chie-Sensei asked. She knew that if the answer was yes, Satoko was still having a hard time.

"Yes, he is." Satoko said, holding her skinny arms tightly to her chest.

"Is he feeding you enough?" Chie-Sensei asked, noticing how little her arms where, when Satoko had crossed them. She had to look down, and nearly gasped at the sight of Satoko's legs. They were hardly holding her up, with how tiny they were. Chie-Sensei could've put her hands all the way around Satoko's thighs. She was so unhealthy and skinny.

"Yes. I eat three meals a day." Satoko said, lying. She hadn't eaten in three days.

"Well, you've gotten awfully smaller. I think you need to see Irie-San." Chie-Sensei said, watching Satoko's eyes. Chie-Sensei knew that Satoko was lying, but she still tried to follow along.

"I would rather not." Satoko said, in a monotone voice, looking down at her feet.

"Dear, you are extremely unhealthy looking. Seeing a doctor would be best." Chie-Sensei said.

"I'm fine." Satoko said, gripping her arms closer to her chest.

"You're very obviously not. Satoko, I'm calling Irie-San. I have to do what I feel is best for my students." Chie-Sensei said, earning an irritated scowl from Satoko.

"Fine. But I tell you, I'm fine." Satoko said, watching the floor. She felt like she was about to cry. If they found out, then she wouldn't be strong enough. She wouldn't be strong enough to face her Nii-nii. All of this effort would've been a waste.

"I'll tell him to come right away, so he can just do a quick check up here." Chie-Sensei said. "But, please, Satoko, tell the truth. It's important. If your uncle is doing anything he shouldn't... You could die any day." she said, biting her lip.

Satoko's eyes went wide. Die? She didn't want to die. She wanted to endure everything. Become good enough for everyone. Dying would mean giving up. Dying would be losing everything she had hoped for. "...Sensei?" she said, softly.

"Yes, Satoko?" Chie-Sensei said, looking up at Satoko, who looked like she was about to pass out.

"What would happen to someone if they one ate one meal only 2 times a week, and nothing else?" Satoko asked quietly.

"Well, after about a month or 2 they would be extremely dehydrated and sick, and would have issues just moving. After about 2 months, they would more than likely die." Chie-Sensei said, while trying to figure out why Satoko had been asking.

"What if I told you that I was doing that?" Satoko asked. She didn't want to tell on herself, but she had been doing this for at least a month, and she didn't want to die. She wanted to be alive to see Nii-Nii when he came back.

Chie-Sensei looked up at Satoko and saw that she had tears in her eyes. Chie-Sensei wrapped her hand around Satoko and carefully pulled her into a hug. "Then I would do exactly this, and then try to find out why. I would try to get you nursed back to health, and try to make things a lot better than they are now."

Satoko didn't respond. She was trying to hold back tears. She didn't want any of this to be happening. She was scared.

"Satoko?" Chie-Sensei said, softly. She pulled out of the hug, and looked Satoko right in the face. "Is what you are telling me true?" she asked.

Satoko still didn't talk, scared that everything would break. She nodded a little, and hid her face in her hands.

"Why?" Chie-Sensei asked, trying to know why this would be happening, "Is it that horrible uncle of yours?" she asked.

"No..." Satoko said softly. "I... I feel like if I don't eat, I will be stronger. For Nii-Nii..." Satoko said, tears beginning to come out of her wide eyes.

Chie-Sensei couldn't help but gasp. Satoko never seemed to be the one to starve herself. She seemed happy enough, and she seemed to eat at school. That must've been the only times.

"How long has this been going on?" Chie-Sensei asked.

"At least the last month..." Satoko said, watching her feet, "But Uncle... Uncle didn't give me a lot of food before, but I ate when I could then... Now... I only eat at school."

Chie-Sensei nodded a little. "I'm taking you to Irie-San. Right now."

Satoko's eyes went wide. "But..." Her heart was racing and she couldn't think straight. She had just ratted herself out. Now everyone was going to know something was wrong.

"No. Satoko, you need liquids. Food. You need it. Your Nii-Nii would do the same thing. Try to help you." Chie-Sensei said. She carefully grabbed Satoko's hand and guided her to the door.

She opened the door and guided Satoko out. "Mion-Chan, watch over the class. I have something I need to do."

"Yes, Ma'am" Mion said, standing up and bowing.

Satoko's face turned red, and she hid her face in her hair. '_I'm sorry, Nii-Nii, my plan didn't work. I hope that this works out for the best. I'm sorry to all of my friends, that you have no clue what is going on, and why Chie-Sensei is guiding me by my hand out of the class_.'

She tried to relax once they got outside, and into Chie-Sensei's car. Irie's office was only about a five minute drive, but Satoko felt like she could hardly last another second. She began panicking, her breath speeding up.

Chie-Sensei seemed to be driving as fast as she could, noticing Satoko's behaviour.

Satoko was holding herself, as if to keep herself from falling apart. She couldn't stop her tears now, as she thought of what Irie-Sensei would do to her, what he would say. She couldn't stop thinking about how everyone was going to shun her even more now, because she hadn't been eating.

When they pulled up to the clinic, Satoko was shaking her head. "I can't. I can't go inside. Everything I've works so hard for will be gone. I can't do it." she said before looking up at Chie-Sensei.

Chie-Sensei noticed red marks on Satoko's neck, looked at her sternly. "How did those marks on your neck get there?" she asked.

Satoko touched her neck, unsure of what Chie-Sensei was talking about. "I don't know..." She looked away, as she slightly remembered scratching her neck as she was thinking. Satoko held on to herself tighter and said, "I'm not going in. He'll scold me. I'll get in trouble... And Nii-nii will never see how hard I've tried to be everything..." Satoko faded off into thought. She was holding herself tight, and swaying a little.

Chie-Sensei looked at her. "If you won't go in, I'll bring him out here." she said, plainly. Without a second thought, Chie-Sensei got out of the car, taking her keys, and locking all the doors. She assumed by the way that Satoko was acting, she was much too disoriented to find the lock and unlock the door.

Chie-Sensei hurried inside, bypassing the nurse in the waiting area, who called after her. She ignored her completely, and stormed into Irie's office. "Irie-San, it's an emergency. I have a student in my car, and she needs medical attention, now." she said, all in one breath.

Irie looked down at the paperwork he was doing, and didn't take a second to stand up and grab a stethoscope. "Who is it?" he asked, as he rushed.

"Houjou Satoko." Chie-Sensei said. "She, currently, is having a panic attack. I found out she's been starving herself for about the past month. She refused to see you, but I insisted and now she is panicking."

Irie nodded, as he approached Chie-Sensei's car. Satoko took one glance out of window and hid her face, and hit the glass with her free hand. "Go away!" she yelled.

Irie shook he's head. "Satoko, you need help." he said in a calm voice.

Satoko didn't even really respond. She screamed, as loud as she could, trying to block everything else out.

Chie-Sensei went quickly to unlock the passenger side door. She struggled for a moment, but unlocked it quickly none the less. Satoko almost literally fell out, stopping her scream.

She flailed around, trying to get no one to touch her.

"Chie, go in and get nurses. Tell them to bring something to help calm her down." Irie said, as he carefully made sure Satoko didn't hurt herself or anyone else. He quickly got her hands pinned down, and nurses soon came after to help him by pinning her legs down, as one injected something into her arm.

"Leave me alone! I can handle it all on my own!" Satoko tried to convince them. She struggled for a minute, but then her body felt heavy. Almost like she couldn't move. She couldn't really stay focused anymore. What was she doing again?

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><p><strong>Hello, everynyan~!<strong>

**I've been writing this story for a while, since probably about a month ago. I didn't wanna post til I was done, and now I'm done. I will post new chapters every few days, even though I want to wait a week for each.**

**Anyway, I really hope you like it so far! R&R pleeeaaasssee?**

**~Bri **


	2. Chapter 2

When Satoko woke up, she felt straps on her arms and legs. She looked around and couldn't fully establish where she was at. Her body felt sore, like she had been running for hours. What was the last thing she was doing?

Before she could re-establish her thoughts, Irie-Sensei came in. "Hey, Satoko-Chan, you're awake. You really needed that sleep." he said, giving her a smile.

"Why am I here?" Satoko asked, noticing her voice come out hoarse.

"Well, there are about 3 reasons. The first reason is that you haven't been taking your supplement shot that we gave you. It really messed with you. The second reason is that you are extremely dehydrated, and we need to give you IV fluids for a little while. The third reason is that you are starving yourself, and we can't let that keep happening."

Satoko felt her heart drop. That's why she was here. She remembered now. She had told Chie-Sensei about her starving herself, and then she took her to Irie... And she had acted very childish.

"Now, we gave you some anti-psychosis medication to calm you down, because you were trying to hit us all. That is also why you are strapped to the bed." he pointed to the restraints that Satoko was not very happy with.

She still didn't say anything. She wasn't sure what had gotten into her. She just couldn't handle the stress of knowing that everyone was going to know about her starving herself.

"Also, we noticed red marks, like scratches on your neck. Do you know what happened to cause those?" he asked.

Satoko thought for a moment, not really wanting to talk. "I... I think on the ride to the clinic, my neck was really itchy... I don't know why." she said, half curious herself as to why she did that.

"Hmmm... Okay. Well, for now, we are going to let you be on the IV drip and we need to contact you uncle-" before he could finish his sentence, Satoko yelled "No!"

Irie's eyebrow rose, "Why not? He has to know what's going on; he is your legal guardian."

Satoko turned away. She couldn't say anything. If she did, everything would be broken.

"Satoko?" he asked when she stayed silent.

"It's nothing. Ignore I said anything." Satoko said. She knew that her uncle was going to punish her harshly for not eating. But she couldn't tell them that he was hurting her. She had to endure it. Her Nii-nii would be so proud.

Irie narrowed his eyes but didn't say anything. Everyone in Hinamizawa knew that Satoko's uncle beat her, but as long as she didn't say anything, nothing could be done about it. "Okay, I'm going to go call him now, and then I will unstrap you." he said, sighing inwardly.

Satoko nodded to him a little, nervously strumming her fingers on the bed. She was extremely frightened of the punishment her uncle would conjure up for her. She knew for a fact that she was not going to go without punishment. That was not anything like him.

She impatiently waited for Irie to come back. She always hated being alone, in fear that the person that left her would not come back. She had seen it happen too many times for her not to be frightened of the fact. She wanted to be with someone... Not just anyone, she wanted to be with her Nii-nii.

After several agonizing minutes, Irie came back into the room. "Your uncle is on his way. With the way you are brightening up, I'd say you can probably go home with him today, as long as you promise to eat, and take your supplement." he said, in a stern voice.

Satoko looked away, hiding her eyes in her hair, "But... Nii-nii..." she said softly.

Irie cocked his to the side, and questioned, "Nii-nii? What about your Nii-nii?"

"I..." Satoko took a breath in, "I was starving myself for Nii-nii. To prove I was strong... If I eat, I'll be weak. Nii-nii won't want to stay if I'm not strong enough..." Satoko sighed, looking at her hands, which were still strapped to the bed.

Irie shook his head, a little boggled by the thought that this was all because her Nii-nii left. "Satoko-Chan... Your brother would be upset if he found out you did this to yourself. All he ever wanted was for you to live a perfect life." Irie said, watching the young girl, as she tried to comprehend what he had been saying.

"But... He left because I was too much. He left because I was his problem... I need to be better than the baby that cries 'Nii-nii, Nii-nii' all the time." Satoko said, looking at Irie. "Now, can you please untie me? I need to fix my hair band."

Irie nodded, and began unclasping her from the bed. As soon as her hands were free, she began messing with her blonde hair, shaking it back to its original volume, and putting her hair band in.

By the time Satoko's uncle arrived, she was impatiently drawing circles on the bed, her legs crossed. "SATOKO!" he roared, as he entered the room. Satoko nearly jumped back, but remember the IV in her arm, and stopped herself.

"U-uncle!" Satoko said, in a quiet voice. She knew by the way he had hollered her name that she was going to be in trouble by the time they got home.

"We are going home now." he said, not even really giving her a choice.

"But... The IV..." she said softly, looking down at her left arm.

Her uncle approached her bed, and then looked around him, before grabbing the IV and pulling it out.

Satoko cried out, but then quickly covered her mouth. No one could know anything he did to her. She carefully got up off the bed, and didn't say anything as she walked to the front of the clinic with her uncle.

Irie came running up, "Who removed your IV?" he asked, as he looked up at her uncle.

"Uhh..." Satoko really wanted to say something but ignored her urge and lied, "I did... I really can't wait to get home."

Irie looked at her with suspicion, but didn't say anything once again. "Well your uncle already filled out the release papers so you are good to go." he smiled at her, but he could see the sadness and worry echoed into her eyes.

"Thanks for the care, and I'm sorry I tried to hit you guys." Satoko said, trying not to burst out into tears.

"It's fine Satoko, don't take it so roughly." Irie gave her a smile and patted her head.

"Thanks..." Satoko said softly, before her uncle pushed her forward, toward the door. "Let's go." he said, in a rough voice.

As soon as Satoko stepped out of her uncle's car, he pushed her forward to the sliding door of the house. "Uncle, I'm sorry..." she cried out, as she slipped her shoes off, before putting her slippers on. She wasn't sure what else he wanted her to say.

"They think I'm starving you and you are covering for me. You little bitch, making me look bad in front of everyone." he said, hitting her on the back of the head.

Satoko let out a whimper, but nothing more than that. She had learned quickly that crying out was a very futile attempt, and that it was but a waste of time. "I'm sorry, uncle... I didn't mean to tell on myself... I shouldn't have..." Satoko said softly, thinking more to herself rather than talking to him.

"And you die? Then I would've been in even more trouble you twerp!" he pushed her forward.

'_Rika, Mion, someone... Please save me..._' Satoko thought, even though in the end she

knew that she didn't want that. If she let that happen, everything would be ruined.

Satoko was shaken out of her thoughts when she heard her uncle, "Satoko! Come here!" she didn't make him wait one moment to please him. If she had, she might be dead. "Coming uncle." she said softly. When she approached the room her uncle was in, she gasped. There was food on the table-food she didn't have to make.

"Eat." her uncle said, giving her an uncomfortable look. He pushed a bowl of rice at her and narrowed his eyes, "Don't eat too fast unless you want a stomach ache." he said, sounding like a good guardian. "Oh, but Satoko. You must finish everything on this table by bedtime. Or else I'll make you eat it."

Satoko quivered away, and nodded a little. She knew her stomach was small, but hopefully, just hopefully, she could eat it all.

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><p><strong>Hey guys.<strong>

**I decided to post this because I'm going to court, and if they decide that I'm not fit to be home for a while, you guys will at least have two chapters to munch on.. . So there you go. Please give me reviews so I know how to better revise my writing. **

**~Bri **


	3. Chapter 3

It was nearly time for her to sleep, and she had only eaten about half of what the full table consisted of. She was extremely fearful of what her uncle had planned to do to her. She didn't want to suffer because of her own mistake as a child. She took a few more bites before giving up on the food in front of her. '_I can't eat anymore._' She thought as tears welled up in her eyes. She knew that she was probably not going to be going to school for a while as punishment for starving herself, but she was so sure at the time that her Nii-nii would be proud of her and be happy that she withstood her uncle. But Irie-Sensei knew her Nii-nii more than anyone in the world. When he said that Nii-nii would be upset, she couldn't help but take it to heart.

"Satoko! Why is there still food here?" He said, his voice elevated, making Satoko quiver and quickly move herself away from the table bearing all the food. She tried to hide but knew it was much of a futile attempt.

"I'm full! I'm sorry! I would eat more if I could! I'm so sorry!" Satoko begged for forgiveness, even though she had done nothing wrong.

"You will eat it all!" He demanded of her, causing Satoko to push herself farther back then she was before. He advanced on the little blonde. He grabbed some of the food and threw it at the cowering girl.

Satoko covered her face and let herself start crying. "I'm sorry..." she pleads again, hoping he would listen to her weak cries.

"Eat it!" Her uncle yelled. He threw more of the cold food at her. "Eat it all off the floor!" he pointed to the rice grains that scattered the wooden floor.

Satoko leaned forward, tears streaking her pale face, "Please... I wanted to eat it all... I did... But I am so full..." she said, bowing down to him, trying to beg for him to not make her eat it off the floor.

"I said eat the food!" he said, angrily kicking Satoko in the side. She coughed roughly. He just laughed at her, "You little wimp, can't even take a little kick in the side." he said, kicking her again.

Satoko coughed harshly, and gagged a little. She coughed again, and without warning, vomited up everything she had eaten. She coughed harshly again, arched over her own vomit.

"You little...!" he leaned over her and pushed her face into her vomit. "Stay there! You move from that spot, and much more will happen then a kick in the side." He told her as he walked away, making Satoko nod softly.

Even though she wanted to move-because all she could smell was her vomit, and she felt disgusting, like she needed to clean herself-she stayed exactly where she was, in fear of getting hurt worse then she already was.

After a few minutes, Satoko heard the front door slide open, and then closed. Her uncle had left. She thought about getting up but then remembered that it could be a trick to see if she would listen to his command. He had done that before, forcing her to do something, then leaving, only to come back within moments to check and make sure she was doing as told.

She closed her eyes, trying to hold back tears. She couldn't take any more of this. She was trying to figure out what she could have done wrong to deserve the torture she suffered.

After a few moments, Satoko's uncle didn't come back, but Satoko stayed put like she was told. She just lay on the floor, her face beginning to get irritated by the stomach acid.

She waited patiently for her uncle to get back, in hopes that he would tell her she could get up. '_Stop wallowing. You know that if you had been stronger when Nii-nii was around, he wouldn't have left, and you wouldn't have needed to learn to grow up. This is just one punishment. One punishment for all of the wrong you've done._' Satoko thought to herself. She curled up a little, and decided that if she was going to be stuck there all night, she might as well sleep. Her uncle was, more than likely, going to get home and forget that she was even in there and crash drunk on the couch.

* * *

><p>Satoko stirred a little, regaining her consciousness. The first thing she did was remember what happened last night. Remembering this, she stayed laying down, instead of getting up and getting ready for school like she normally did. There was no way her uncle was going to let her go to school today. She had bruises everywhere from where he had been roughly tossing her around.<p>

Not even five minutes after she woke up, her uncle came into the room, wearing a pair of sunglasses, and resting an icepack on his neck. "This room smells awful. Satoko, you can get up, just clean this room first before you do anything else." he said, before walking out of the room.

Satoko was lucky. He uncle had gotten drunk the night before after he left, and had gained a hangover. Even though he was a horrible person and an even worse drunk, he was rather mellow when he was suffering from a hangover. Probably because he didn't want to deal with fast movements or yelling with a headache.

She pushed herself off the floor and flinched. Her face felt very raw and irritated from being burned by her vomit. Her nose also hurt from the smell. She stretched up, feeling very sore from sleeping on the floor. If her uncle was still suffering from a hangover in the afternoon, she decided that she would take a nap.

Satoko grabbed the mop and bucket out of the kitchen cupboard and took it to the sink. She moved the mop out of the bucket, and began filling it with water.

After swiftly mopping up the dirty floor, she took the bucket out to the backyard, to empty it of the dirty water. She shook it violently, and then took it back inside.

She finished cleaning the entire kitchen, and started to the bathroom to wash her face. It was stinging badly, and she knew that there must be a scab forming from the acid burning through her pale skin. She took a wet rag and ran it across her face, flinching and hissing at the pain. She didn't want to clean it, but she knew that it would get infected if she didn't and if she got an infection, that would give Irie even more reason to take her away from her uncle, which she couldn't let happen.

She quickly got all of the chunks of food and such off of her face, even disinfecting the wound with soap and hot water. She cried while doing this, but knew she couldn't just not do it.

As soon as she finished drying her face, she heard a quiet knocking on the front door. She sighed, and looked at her face in the mirror. It almost looked like she fell and skidded on her face. With that in mind, Satoko smiled at herself, realising that she had just given herself her next lie.

"Coming." she said, as she turned to go answer the door.

She passed her uncle, who was napping soundly on the couch. She almost smiled at how vulnerable he looked to her right then. She almost wanted to kick him, but knew that if she had she would most defiantly regret it later.

She got to the sliding front door, and opened it a little, "Yes?" she asked, trying not to show her face.

"Satoko!" she heard the voice on the other side. It was Mion. Of all people to visit her in the middle of the day, it had to be Mion?

"What's up?" Satoko asked, watching Mion carefully.

"Chie-Sensei told me to come check on you. Said that you were really sick yesterday." Mion said, standing very close to the door.

"I'm fine." Satoko said, looking away.

"May I come in?" Mion asked, trying to invite herself into Satoko's home.

"My uncle is sleeping on the couch in the living room. I don't think that that would be a good idea." she said, backing away slightly.

"Well then can you come out here, only for a moment?" Mion asked, taking a small step away from the door.

Satoko sighed, knowing that the next head of the Sonozaki home was not going to back down until she got what she wanted.

She shook her hair into her face, and then opened the door.

Mion gasped, "Satoko-Chan, what happened to your-" she was cut off by Satoko.

"I fell yesterday, after mopping the kitchen floor. I was really dizzy, but didn't think anything of it until it was way too late." Satoko said, touching her face delicately.

Mion nodded slightly, seeing right through Satoko's lie. Almost everything Satoko spoke recently was a lie. "Ahh, okay." Mion nodded again, before smiling at Satoko. "Well I wanted to go on a walk. You've not talked to anyone in a long time. You won't even talk to Rika anymore. Everyone is really worried about you." she said, looking down at her shoes.

Satoko thought for a moment, and then decided that a short walk with Mion couldn't be too horrible. "Okay. Let's walk." She said, softly, looking back into her house, seeing her uncle sprawled out on the couch, '_Hopefully, he will not awaken before I get back... Or I'll be in trouble. But Mion is scarier._' Satoko thought, as she slipped her house shoes off and put on her flats.

Mion internally smiled. She knew that she might be able to get Satoko out of her house, now for the next part of her plan. She wanted to get Satoko to admit about her uncle. Chie-Sensei had told Mion and their group about how Satoko had been intentionally not eating, and that scared Mion. "So how is everything going?"

Satoko smiled, "Everything is going good."

Mion narrowed her eyes but did not say anything. She needed to let Satoko think she was lying her way through this. "Ah. How is your uncle?" Mion asked, with no real care, but rather to beat more around the bush.

"Same as ever." Satoko answered. She couldn't figure out Mion's motive, and she wasn't so sure she wanted to know. Mion was a sneaky person, with a lot of secrets that even her closest friends didn't know about. But Satoko assumed that was just something that came with her job of being a leader to one of the Three Houses.

Mion nodded a little, more to herself. '_That means that Satoko is still suffering... If not worse than when Satoshi-Kun was still around..._' she thought to herself, as she watched Satoko walk, almost like a zombie, with how she had no hop in her step, no emotion in her eyes. Everything about her looked depressed. And then the wound on her face. There was no way to miss that. It was very obvious that she was not clumsy enough to do that, just from falling. There had to be an external source. "Hm. Well, what about that supplement shot that Manager wants you to take?" she asked, as she looked at Satoko frail looking body. Mion felt if she just hugged her too hard, she might break in half. How could anyone hit a child as innocent and small as Satoko?

"I stopped taking it for a while, but then he found out, and said that not taking it was part of the reason I'm becoming so clumsy." Satoko said, watching her feet. Everything she was spouting was lies, and even though she didn't want lie to her friend, she had no choice. Her Nii-nii would feel ashamed if she fell back on someone all because of a little bruise here and there. It was nothing. It was just a trial to see if she's worthy to have her Nii-nii back, and she was going to try her best not to mess it up.

Mion nodded and smiled, "But you've always been rather clumsy. You used to miss school all the time, because of those killer stairs in your house." she said, trying to make a joke out of Satoko's primary lie, 'I fell down the stairs.' Mion shook her head, "You are rather small, gravity shouldn't hold you as tight as it does."

Satoko put a fake smiled on her face, "Yeah. I guess I just have bad luck." she said, trying to push all of her happy emotion to the surface, so her smile wouldn't look so superficial.

"Mmm. But Rika has pretty bad lucky too. Living in that extra house all by herself. I'm rather glad that she was the priest's daughter, or I don't know what would have happened to her."

Mion said, sighing a little. Rika's father had died of unknown causes almost 3 years ago, leaving Rika all alone to live in the shrine building. The Sonozaki family told her she could stay with them but she refused, and instead moved into an old house that was on the property not too far from the Shrine.

"Yeah..." the depression in Satoko's eyes got even deeper, and she looked like she was going to explode any second now. Even though Mion knew that this was cruel, she was pretty sure it would get some of the emotion that Satoko has been feeling out, and possibly even get her to confess about her uncle.

"Well, she didn't want help. She said that she would rather live alone. My mother offered our home to her, and she politely declined. It's almost as if she doesn't want anyone's help." Mion said, watching Satoko looking up at her with round eyes.

"Do you think Rika will be okay?" Satoko asked softly, watching Mion's face for an answer.

"I don't know... She's too young to be independent. I don't think I could even live like she does." Mion said, sincerely.

Satoko looked at the ground and frowned. She wasn't sure what to say at this point.

"Anyway, how are you? And please do not say fine. I do know better than that." Mion said, beginning the true interrogation now that they were a fair distance from Satoko's home.

Satoko was taken off guard by the question, and replied, "But I am fine..." she said, softly, wrapping her arms around herself protectively.

"Satoko, I can see the bruises on your arms, I can see the red mark on you cheek that isn't wounded. I can see that wound. I see you at school, and never do I see you fall, or even stumble. You aren't fine." Mion said, almost anger in her voice.

Satoko turned away, stopping in her tracks. "It's nothing. I can handle it on my own." she said with a stubborn voice.

"Satoko-Chan... Obviously you can't, or you wouldn't be hurting like this. If you could handle it, you wouldn't be missing school all the time, or constantly having to lie or... or starving yourself." Mion finally brought up what she knew, and it made Satoko turn to look at her, backing up a little.

"How did you know...?" Satoko asked, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Chie-Sensei told me, Rena, and Rika. Told us not to tell anyone else, and try to keep it secretive." Mion said, watching the fear, and shame that was written across Satoko's face.

Satoko shook her head, her eyes going wide. "I told her not to tell anyone. I am fine. I can do this by myself." Satoko said, shaking her head. She took a step back again, and her shoe caught on a rock, making her fall back, onto her behind.

Mion took a step toward Satoko and leaned down to where she fell, "I'm not going to tell anyone. Only your friends know. We wouldn't betray you like that."

Satoko looked up at Mion's face, seeing no trace of any other emotion besides sympathy. She couldn't take any of this anymore. Why was everyone bothering her so much when she knew she could handle this on her own?

Mion frowned at Satoko when she looked away, trying to hold back tears. Mion could see the shame and regret in Satoko's expression, but she could also see fear and determination.

Satoko didn't want to cry, but that was all she could manage at that moment. Her mind was racing far too fast for her to keep up. She was shaking, and she obviously couldn't hold herself up. She gave up at that moment, and just let a year's worth of tears out.

Mion was almost taken aback when Satoko started just crying. Then she got on her knees next to Satoko and wrapped her arms carefully around Satoko's small frame. "It's okay now, just let it all out." Mion said, patting Satoko's back softly.

Satoko nodded, and hid her face in Mion's neck. "I'm sorry... I don't know what I did wrong..." Satoko said, through her tears. She held on to Mion like she was her only life source at the moment.

Mion looked at her carefully, "What do you mean?" she asked, holding on the little trembling girl.

"I don't know what I did... What did I do to deserve everyone to be taken from me...?" Satoko said, hiding her face deeper in the space between Mion's shoulder and neck.

Mion watched Satoko carefully as the young blonde cried. She wasn't sure of what else she could do. She didn't have an answer to why Satoko had to suffer through losing nearly everyone in her life. She lost her family to the Watanagashi Curse, 4 years prior, and then her aunt mysteriously was beaten to death last year, and what came with that... Her brother, the only person she trusted with her life, disappeared. After that, Satoko lost a lot of her own mentality. Before Satoshi disappeared, Satoko was very dependent, asking for help, when it was the smallest thing. Everyone would know when Satoko didn't feel good, or something wasn't going her way because she would begin to cry out, "Nii-nii, Nii-nii...!" until her brother would come to her aid. But after he left, she separated herself, and didn't allow anyone to help her, believing that Satoshi left because she was so dependent on him. Mion was still trying to cope with the situation herself, while trying to help Satoko.

Satoko moved closer to Mion and held her tight. "I don't want to get close... To anyone... Because if I do..." Satoko hiccuped and clung to Mion's blazer.

Mion watched the fear in Satoko's eyes, as the little girl clung to her like her life could end tomorrow. Which, in the situation she was forcing herself to stay in, it could be.

Satoko didn't intend on finishing her sentence as she clung to Mion. She felt if she let go, Mion would disappear, like her Nii-nii did, and she didn't want to take the risk. She wanted to stay like this forever. Someone patting her head, giving her reassurance, even if there wasn't much to reassure. She hiccuped once more before saying, "I don't want this anymore... Please help me?" she said, sadness etched into her pale face.

Mion was almost surprised that Satoko asked for help. She imagined that Satoko would be stubborn through the whole walk and little to no progress would be made. "Help you with what? I can't help if i don't know what I'm helping with."

Satoko shook her head, "You know... Everyone knows already..." she said, moving away from Mion, wiping her tears away. "My uncle. I'm tired of suffering like this... I want someone, anyone to protect me..." Satoko said, looking at the ground. She honestly wanted to cry out 'Nii-nii!' even though she knew he wouldn't come.

"Satoko..." Mion said, looking at her. Out of all the mature moments she had been through with Satoko, this is probably the most mature out of all of them. She looked like she had given in to her immaturity of wanting her brother to love the new her, for her life. She accepted that if this escalated any farther, she was going to let it go too far, and she wouldn't be able to handle it anymore.

"Last night... Last night was it. Last night made me realise how foolish I've been... Why would Nii-nii ever want me to suffer through this torture...? When he was here, he did nothing but protect me, even when I didn't ask him to." Satoko said, trying to keep her voice from shaking, though she was just gaining her composure back.

Mion nodded. She took in a breath, and dared ask the question that everyone learned not to ask Satoko, "What happened?"

Satoko looked frustrated for a moment, as if trying to word the situation in her mind. "Uhmmm... Well, when Chie-Sensei took me to Irie-Sensei, Uncle found out about me not eating... When I got home from the hospital, Uncle made a whole table full of food, and even prepared the good kotatsu. He told me to eat everything or he would make me." Satoko was shuffling her feet as she explained. She had never spoken about her uncle to anyone. This would be the first time her abuse was spoken. "I ate as much as I could, but I didn't finish everything by when I was supposed to sleep, and he threw the left overs at me, even though I begged for forgiveness, telling him how it was entirely my fault and that I was stupid. He didn't care and told me to eat the food off of the floor. I just cried and told him I didn't want to eat it off the floor again. He kicked me in the side, and made fun of me for coughing, and kicked me again. I tried not to, but after eating so much, at such a fast pace, I ended up throwing up, and he pushed my face in it..." Satoko hid her face in her hair, looking at her feet. She had tears streaming her face again. This was embarrassing. She felt like she had just stripped in front of all of Hinamizawa.

Mion listened carefully as Satoko told her confession of her abuse. Mion was appalled by what he had done to poor Satoko, and from what Satoko was describing, this wasn't the first time he made her eat off the floor, or kicked her. She let the silence take over for a moment, before calmly asking, "Has he ever done more than just physical abuse?" she asked. Satoko used to come to school with dark bruises on her thighs and wrists. She, at the time, blamed her bike, and tight bracelets.

Satoko looked at Mion, watching for any emotion. She found worry, love, and almost a motherly look. She looked away quickly, her heart pounding in her chest, like she was about to have a panic attack like she did in Chie-Sensei's car. She didn't want to face anyone. "Yes." Satoko answered softly, reflexively covering her chest with her arms.

Fear was the first emotion that Mion felt. Then a sudden rush of adrenaline and fierce hot anger ran through her. "I am going to kill that bastard!" she exclaimed, the anger spilling into her voice.

Satoko's eye went wide in realisation, "Mion, you mustn't!" She had confessed her abuse to get help from her uncle but Mion was thinking of something completely different. Mion, after hearing Satoko's confession, went into a white, blinding rage.

"He deserves to die after everything that he has done to you! I won't let you suffer anymore!" Mion said, already storming back to Satoko's house.

Satoko shook her head, "He's too strong, you'll get hurt... If you die... I... I don't know what I'll do..." Satoko couldn't help but to tear up.

"I'll be fine... You... You go to Rika's. Act like you know nothing. I don't want you to get in trouble... I can get out of it... You can't." Mion pushed Satoko away. "Go." she commanded.

The little blonde watched Mion for a moment, before deciding that Mion's logic made sense. Mion was the next leader of one of the Three Houses. She didn't even have to plead insanity, she could just say she didn't do it, and no one would defy her. Satoko, however, was hated by most of Hinamizawa, so they would be willing to mob her to death. Leaving and claiming that she knew nothing was probably the best idea.

Without another thought, Satoko turned and began running in the direction of the Furude Shrine. She ran and ran, ignoring that the burn on her face was becoming irritated again.

When she got to the little home on the shrine property, she banged on the door; "Rika?" she called out but felt it was futile, because Rika was more than likely still at school.

Satoko was strongly surprised when her blue haired friend answered the door. "Satoko? Why aren't you at school?" Rika asked, her eyebrows disappearing behind her straight-cut bangs.

"I..." Satoko nearly started a lie but then remembered that there was no need for that anymore. "Uncle kept me home." She said, "Can I come in? There's more I need to tell you..." Satoko's heart was racing.

Rika nodded, "Of course, Satoko." she smiled, despite the flush on her checks that showed the reason she had missed school.

Satoko stepped into the small house. She'd never been inside of Rika's new home. Before Satoko's Nii-nii disappeared, no one bothered her, not wanting to burden Satoshi. But before her parents died, she and Rika were great friends.

After a few minutes of Satoko observing and taking in her surroundings, she calmly said, "Mion-san sent me here."

"Mii-Chan?" Rika asked in confirmation. She wanted to make up her own reason but came up with nothing and decided to ask, "Why?"

Satoko look down at her hands. "I told her everything... I told her about how uncle would hit and kick me... I told her about how he hit me until I was sick last night..." Satoko said softly, before looking at Rika again, "I had to tell her, because she didn't believe my lie about falling and hurting my face..." Satoko touched her face, where the scabbing burn was. "And because of the events of yesterday..."

Rika nodded, "Mii... But what does this have to do with you being sent here?"

Satoko averted her vision from Rika again, "Mion-San's... She's planning to kill him. She told me to come here, and pretend that there was nothing wrong."

Rika's eyes went wide for a moment, but then she shook her head, "That's a good idea." she said softly. Rika was raised to be opposed to killing, but Satoko's situation called for it, unless they were going to move her out of that house. If they did that, she would probably have to go to Okinomiya, and Rika didn't want to let that happen. "Umm... If you need a place to live... I have an extra futon and this house is too big for just me."

Satoko let a smile arise on her face, "I'd love to!" she took Rika's hand in hers and let the smile fall from her face, "I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Rika asked. She couldn't think of any reason Satoko would need to be apologising. If anything, Rika should be the one apologising-for not working harder to save her before she was in too much of a rough.

Satoko sighed and looked at Rika's hand in hers, "I'm sorry for not being a good friend... I didn't trust you with anything, and I was always causing everyone so much trouble..." she tightened her grip on Rika's hand, before looking up at her with tearful eyes, "I'm really sorry for being a bad friend..." she murmured, trying to hold back her tears.

Rika shook her head, "You were going through some issues, but it'll be over with soon, and then we can all be good friends again." Rika gave Satoko her most sincere smile. She took a small breath in and said, in a stern voice, "But please, never do something so stupid again."

Satoko didn't need to be told what Rika meant. She was talking about not eating. "I won't. I have no reason to anymore." she said, softly.

Rika nodded a little and pulled her hand away from Satoko's. She saw the surprise on her blonde friend's face and smiled, "Hugs." she said, wrapping her arms tightly around Satoko's small body. She didn't think too much of how she could feel Satoko's ribs against her own, because then she would have just forced her to eat a pail of food.

Satoko was shocked at first that Rika had pulled her into a hug, but then relaxed a little and wrapped her arms lightly around Rika's body. Even though Rika was slightly younger, and had a smaller physique, Satoko was skinnier, because of her malnutrition. That actually frightened her a bit, because she had never really noticed just how tiny she had gotten until then.

"Satoko-chan..." Rika said softly.

Satoko was caught off guard by how delicate Rika sounded, "Yes?" she said, trying not to sound too taken aback.

"Are you hungry? Tired? Do you need a bath?" Rika started asking questions, in a motherly fashion. It made Satoko feel happy inside.

Satoko stopped to think. She did need a bath. It'd been 2 days since her last bath. What about food? No, she wasn't all the hungry and just the thought of last night made whatever appetite she had built up flee. She knew she was tired. Her whole body was still sore from sleeping on the floor, and she was sure that she'd not been fully asleep for most of the night. "A bath, then sleep would be good." Satoko said, as she loosened her grip on Rika's torso.

Rika smiled and nodded, letting go of Satoko. "Okay. I'll start the bath, and then while your washing up, I'll get the guest futon ready." she smiled again, and got up, before disappearing down the main hallway of the house.

Satoko couldn't help but feel happy about staying at Rika's house, even though she couldn't even possibly begin to comprehend what must be going on at her uncle's house at that moment.

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><p><strong>Hoped you liked it~! Review? Review?<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

Mion couldn't focus right. She was so outraged after confirming the fact of Satoko's abuse with her. She was mad before and hated Satoko's uncle strongly then, but after hearing it from Satoko herself, and seeing the sadness that crossed over Satoko's face, she couldn't help but feel like she needed to kill. And she was ready to.

She had come into the Houjou home, and snuck into the kitchen, before grabbing the biggest knife that she could find. She had to check if it was sharp, but stabbed the counter. When it went through the wood easily, she snatched it up.

She found Teppei Houjou sprawled out on the living room couch, droll oozing out of his mouth. He looked like he wasn't sleeping peacefully, telling Mion that she needed to be careful not to wake him.

She silently got behind him and put the cold blade to his neck. She felt him move slightly, and a grimace appeared on her face. She wanted him to wake up, but after she had him in a dangerous position, so he couldn't really fight back.

She put a little pressure on the blade and murmured "C'mon, wake up you bastard." she couldn't help but want to wake him up.

He mumbled a little, slurping up some of the spit that had accumulated at the corner of his mouth. Some of the words that he had mumbles, Mion picked up. "Satoko, you little twerp..." Now, why would he be murmuring that in his sleep?

Mion pulled the blade a little closer to herself, putting more pressure on his neck. She heard him cough, and choke a little. She looked down to see his beady eyes open, and looking right at her.

"You move, you die." she spouted, without really thinking. Her mind was running on autopilot, anger being the engine keeping her going.

Teppei didn't move, but quietly said, "Sonozaki..."

"Yes, and I'm obligated to hurt you. You've been tormenting Satoko for too long. If it weren't for you, Satoshi would've never left, and Satoko would be healthy. You've got no reason to live in this village any longer, and you left before. My grandmother never welcomed you back." Mion said, taking a fist of his hair into her hand.

"Ugghh, I wouldn't have to treat that little brat like I do if she just did what she was told." he growled, earning a tug of his hair from Mion.

"She's a child. Not an animal." Mion replied simply.

"And I never re-introduced myself to Oryou Sonozaki because I thought that since I was a previous resident..." he faded off.

"Ryuguu Rena and her family re-introduced themselves, why shouldn't you?" Mion said, in a harsh tone.

"They've been one from nearly a decade though! I was only gone for a little less than a year."

"You should've not come back." Mion spouted. She pushed the knife closer to the side of his neck, right under the corner of his jaw. "Please, amuse me. Give me one reason why I should let you live?"

"Uhh... I... I am the only family Satoko has left! You kill me and she has to go into custody of Okinomiya's police department." he said, in a hurry, his voice weak.

"The Sonozaki family will adopt her. We will find a way to keep her in Hinamizawa. Give me a better reason." Mion said, applying a little pressure, lightly dragging the knife half a centimetre down his neck, causing his neck to dribble a little stream of blood.

"Ah-!" He said, not expecting the sudden pain in his neck.

"Well? What is your reason?" Mion asked, her voice low with authority.

"I... I..." He was silent for a moment, before looking at her again. "I have a job, a life, and I have to finish raising Satoko." he said, watching Mion's face, trying to find acceptance, but found nothing but a tough poker face.

"You're not raising her; you are taking her only childhood and breaking it into little pieces! And a job is no reason to live! Your life means nothing to the world." Mion pulled the knife down a little more, "I'm sick of you."

Teppei tried to pull away at the same time Mion swiftly ran the knife across his jugular vein. She even made sure to let the tip of the knife dig into the delicate area.

She cackled when he fell to the floor, his hand covering his neck. He had his mouth open trying to form words, but his severed throat wouldn't allow him to speak.

Mion smiled, "What does this feel like?" she kicked him in the side. "Remind ya of some resent events?" she asked, as she kicked him harder, making him cough up blood. "Oh, don't worry, it's not over yet. There are still about two and a half minutes left, before you lose consciousness. I'm not going to let you just lie around and die! That's not fun!"

He looked up at her with glassed over eyes. She could see fake apologies written all over his face, and she laughed again. "That face does nothing but make me want to hurt you more." she said, pushing his face onto the floor. She dug the knife slowly into his back, while holding his head down with the palm of her hand. "One more minute now."

She enjoyed seeing the light fade from his eyes as she pushed the tip of the blade into his skin and twisted it, as he bled out onto the floor. She could see the pain on his face, and it made her want to laugh in his face.

When his eyes closed, she sighed to herself, and grabbed his wrist. She wrapped her hand around his wide wrist, and checked his pulse. It was almost non-existent, which meant that there was no way in Hell that anyone would find him before he died.

Mion got off of her knee, feeling grateful that she wore a skirt, opposed to her normal jean attire. This made washing the blood off easier.

She delicately put the knife into his hand, even though it was almost completely obvious that he did not do this to himself, because of the buzz of Oyashiro-Sama's curse, someone might think that it was Oyashiro-Sama, even if it wasn't.

She sighed again, and quickly relocated to the kitchen to wash her hands, and get blood out of her hair.

After a few moments of washing up, Mion felt that she was clean enough to go out of the house. She had gotten most of the blood off of her, and what was left was just little droplets that she could blow off as a nosebleed, if anyone was to ask her about it.

With that, she took in a breath, and decided that it was time to go tell Satoko that the deed was done. Mion decided that when she got to Rika's, she would have Satoko call Okinomiya's police station and tell them that she had found her uncle dead in the house and ran to her friend's house to call them. Even though Satoko's house had a phone, because of her young age, it made sense.

She nodded to herself as she finished devising her plan, as she walked to the Furude Shrine.

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><p><strong>Hey readers~<strong>

**Sorry that I've not been updating too recently (even though I think my last update was only last Tuesday..) A lot has been going on and I'm really forgetting a lot. So... Be happy that you got a chapter, even if it's all short and stuff.**

**Thanks for reading~ Byee**

**~Bri**


	5. Chapter 5

Satoko heard a knock at Rika's front door, and even though she was sure she knew who it was, she still flinched because she was so used to her uncle shoving her into the direction of the door. She shook her head and sighed, as she let the warm shower water run over her back. She had not been able to take a shower as ralaxed as this since her parents were alive.

She heard the front door open, a few shuffling foot steps, then Rika's voice, "Satoko, it's Mi-Chan."

Satoko didn't take but a moment to answer. "Okay, I'm almost done, I'll be out in a moment." With this she stepped out of the shower, and turned the water off. Normally she would not have even thought about taking a shower, but she knew that Rika wouldn't mind her only taking one shower in her home. That was only a few more yen on her bill, and if anything, the Sonozaki family paid for all of Rika's household bills.

She covered herself in a towel, and dried her hair with the second towel that Rika had placed in the bathromm after Satoko got into the shower. She shook a little, even though the shower had left steam in the room. She couldn't help her skiddish nature, even though at Rika's house she should feel safe.

She finished drying her hair and let the towel around her head fall. She put her black hairband on and shook her head, getting it to settle in place. She then let the towel wrapped around her body fall, and looked at herself in the mirror that Rika's bathroom was equipped with. All she could see was scar after scar, of where her uncle had abuse her. She also saw her bones. She had never really noticed, but she was really near death. There was no way she would've lived much longer with the way she looked.

Satoko shook her head, to get those thoughts out. She was going to eat from now on. There was no doubt that she would live. Something like starving herself was not going to take her life. If she was going to die, it would be from something honourable. Not something idiotic.

After a few minutes of looking at herself in the mirror, she put the pajamas on that Rika placed delicately on the counter while she was showering. She hadn't really anything else to wear, so she just wore what she was given, even though she was going to be greeted by Mion as soon as she left the bathroom. But Mion saw her in worst. She was her right after waking this morning, and Satoko's face had been bleeding a little then. At least now it was more scabbed over.

She took one more glance in the mirror, before stepping out of the bathroom. She gasped when the first thing she was met with was Mion's arms. She felt Mion embrace her tightly.

Mion couldn't help but hug Satoko, even though she was wet. "It's over." Mion murmured into Satoko's ear.

Satoko hugged Mion back, and nuzzled her face into Mion's chest. That was all she needed to hear before being so happy. Just that sentence told her that she was saved.

Rika watched the two with a simple smile on her face. She had seen the little spots of blood on Mion's shirt. She had also remembered that Satoko said that Mion was planning to murder her uncle. Which meant that Satoko's situation must be fixed.

Satoko held on to Mion for a moment, then pulled away. "It can't be just this easy right?" she asked, rather bluntly. Satoko knew that nothing worked so simply.

Mion nodded, "I need you to call the police and tell them that you found your uncle, and then ran over here in shock." she replied, qick to the point as well.

Satoko nodded, and then turned to Rika. "May I use your phone?" she asked.

"Mii." Rika said, in reply. She turned a little, and pointed to the hall, "It's right in the next room."

Satoko nodded, then looked up at Mion, "And I should act shocked and rather upset, right?" Satoko asked. She wasn't so sure that she could act this way, but she needed to try her best.

Mion nodded, "I'm sure you can do fine.." Mion seemed like she was going to say more, but didn't continue.

Satoko turned away and said, "Okay." she started to the hall. She didn't hasitate to the next room. In Hinamizawa, they didn't have a 911 system set up, but all the children were drilled to know the number to the Okinomiya Police Station.

She picked up the phone, and dialed the number. She thought about Satoshi, and about her parents, and imagined finding them dead, to mentally work herself up to sound upset about her uncle's death. She wanted it to sound as realistic as possible, so that they wouldn't suspect her, like they did for her parents.

"Hello, Okinomiya Police Station, Ooishi speaking." Satoko hear Ooishi answer.

She took a deep breath, and blurted out, "My uncle's dead!" she said, trying to sound as upset as possible. "I was out playing, then I came home, and when I walked through the door, he was on the floor dead! I panicked and ran to Rika's, where I am now." she said, making herself get worked up.

"Calm down, calm down. Tell me your name." Ooishi said.

Satoko grinned to herself. She obviously sounded convencing, or he wouldn't have told her to calm down. "Houjou Satoko." she said, talking a deep breath in, as if to be calming herself down.

"Okay, okay, and you say that your uncle is dead? Did you check for a pulse or if he was breathing?" Ooixhi asked her.

"No, no, no!" Satoko said, letting more emotion run out into her voice. "I didn't want to touch him! He looked so lifeless though!"

"Okay. Satoko, you live in Hinamizawa, right?" he asked her.

"Yes, I do." Satoko said, hoping that this phone call would end soon. She was tired of acting.

She heard Ooishi grunt, "I've been to your house before. I will go investigate then... Where are you at now?" he asked, dispite her telling him already.

"I'm at the Furude house. I ran here as soon as I found him.." Satoko said, still trying to put on a very panicked front. She wasn't sure if he was buying it by now, but Ooishi wasn't always the smartest man.

"Okay. After I go to investigate, we will pick you up." he said, catching her off guard.

"No, no, that's fine. Rika said that I can stay here. And if not here, then I've also been invited to the Sonozaki home."

"But you are a minor. We can't just leave you in someone's home. We need to get in contact with your parents-" He didn't get to finish he's sentence.

"I have no other family. My mother and father died 3 years ago, my aunt died and my brother came up missing last year, and my uncel is dead. Rika is the only family I have left. She realy is.." Satoko said, being completely serious, and getting ginuinly upset.

"Fine, fine." Ooishi said in a rather lazy voice, as if he really just didn't want to deal with it any longer.

"Thank you very much." Satoko in a soft voice, trying to sound a little relieved but still clearly upset.

"Well, we are going to investigate. I will come to the Furude house afterward, to see how you are doing." Ooishi said, before grumbing something under his breath. He than spouted, "Good-bye!" and hung up.

Satoko looked at the phone in her hand and shook her head. What was that all about? She didn't really ponder then answer as the put the phone back on the reciever and sighed. She knew that Ooishi wasn't going to let her go that easily. She expected that Ooishi would come to get her to take her to the city. Even though Mion was going to confess when Ooishi got there, she was one of the 3 houses, and Satoko was Hinamizawa's most hated. Whenever there was a crime anywhere near Hinamizawa, they would go after Satoko, even if she was honestly clueless about the crime, and had a good alibi.

Satoko left the hall and went back to where Mion an Rika were. "He is such a pest." she commented, and sat on the futon that Rika had laid out for her.

"Ooishi? I know. I was really hoping that it would be Akasaka or Kuma that answered the call." Mion said, her brow furrowed together.

"Mii... Akasaka-San went back to Tokyo to care for his wife." Rika chimed in.

Mion nodded and looked at Satoko, who was getting relaxed on the futon. "Are you going to sleep?" Mion asked.

"Yeah, I'm really tired, and pretending to be upset is exhausting."Satko slid under the covers, "Oh, and if I'm sleeping when Ooishi gets here, he might believe that I cried myself sick." she said, closing her eyes. "You should tell him not to wake me, that I slept on the floor last night." she didn't go into spacifics but Mion remembered Satoko's previous situation, and anger welled over her again.

"I will. Me and Rika will be quiet as you sleep." Mion said, trying to cover her rage with kindness.

"I'll tell him not to wake you. You look like you need the rest." Rika smiled, before turning to Mion. "Let's go to the kitchen and I'll make us some tea."

"Okay." Mion said, getting up from against the wall where she was leaning.

Satoko relaxed her eyes and let the heavy sleep take over.


	6. Chapter 6

When Satoko woke up, she could hear yelling throughout the Furude house. At first, she couldn't tell what they were yelling about, but then she started to listen closely.

"She's dealt with this since the Watanagashi festival, four years ago! Alone! Because she was afraid of this! You all rejecting her again!" Satoko heard Mion yell. "Rika, Rena, and I have been watching her since that retched uncle of her first showed up. She started missing school, her and Satoshi, and then they would both come to school with bruises and they were both very closed off, and depressed! Satoko's uncle was horrible to them!"

"Mii, and after Satoshi came up missing and her uncle returned, she became withdrawn and the cycle began again. We have all reported the abuse many times, but no one listened." Rika added.

"So, finally, Satoko told me what had been happening to her, and I snapped. That fucking uncle of hers needed to die!" Satoko heard Mion hit something.

Next Satoko heart Ooishi talk. "You expect me to believe that Mion Sonozaki-one of the three houses-murdered Teppei Houjou?"

"Yes, because that's what happened!" Mion yelled, her her emotions like venom n her voice.

"I think that you all are just covering for Houjou!" Ooishi said, loosing patience.

"She didn't do anything! I even left evidence for you to trace back to me! I left the knife, with my fingerprints all over! There's no way it doesn't lead to me! I even have his blood on my shirt!" she called.

Satoko was now sitting up, her hands on her head. '_It's my fault... I should have just kept my mouth shut._' Satoko blamed herself for all of the yelling in Rika's normally peaceful home.

"Teppei Houjou was killed about an hour again. Satoko obviously wasn't at school today. Why was that?" Ooishi asked Mion and Rika.

"It's because that cruel uncle of her's kept her home, because he made her sleep in her own vomit last night." Mion said, sounding like she was on her last nerve.

Satoko pushed herself up off of the floor. She needed to show Ooishi the damage that her uncle had caused. She didn't give any warning to them, she just opened the sliding door to the kitchen and looked straight at Ooishi.

"Well if it isn't the culprit herself." he said, greeting her sarcastically into the room.

"Last night, my uncle made me eat. Normally that would sound great, but he made me eat an entire table's contents. I'm only 12, an I have a very small stomach. One bowl of rice fills me up. He gave me about 6 hours to eat enough food to feed everyone in this room for a week. I ate, though. I ate about half of it, before it was time for me to go to bed. When he had found out that I had not eaten it all, he began throwing bowls of food at me, and telling me to eat it off the floor. When I said that I didn't want to, he kicked me in the stomach until I puked. He pushed my face into it, and told me not to move. Then he left home, and I assume he got drunk, because he came home this morning with a really bad hangover. I knew he wouldn't have let me go to school, so I went to Mion's house. I didn't expect her to be home, but she was. I was so upset and mad about the night before that I told her everything. She told me to come here, and to just stay put. She didn't tell me why or anything. But I did as she said, and found that Rika was home, as well, with a fever. Rika let me take a shower. After my shower, I decided that I should go back home before my uncle woke up from his hangover. I found him bloody and dead. That's when I came back here and called you." Satoko didn't let anyone talk until she was done talking. Even though part of that had been a lie, she was sure that she had covered that up well enough.

"Mii, it's true!" Rika said, nodding. "And not too much after Satoko came over, and called you in a panic, Mion showed up and confessed to us about the murder." Even though she was the one talking with the most level head, her eyes kept darting over to Ooishi's shoulder, as if looking for confidence in someone, that wasn't even there.

"Look, Ooishi, Rika and Satoko have alibis. It is not fair to suspect someone with a proved alibi. I have no alibi. I was obviously mad when Satoko first told me about the situation, then I disappeared, and my sister, who also stayed home today, can tell you that I was not home. Then I showed up here, with a guilty conscience, and told them what I had done." Mion said, obviously getting very worked up. Her bangs were sticking to her forehead, from where she had begun to sweat out of stress.

Ooishi's eyebrows furrowed, but he knew that he was cornered. There was absolutely no way, from what these three are saying, that Satoko could've been there to hurt her uncle.

Mion then laughed suddenly, "And really, do you think that a young, very tiny girl like Satoko could hold a man of that size down? That's outrageous!"

Ooishi groaned inwardly. She had a point. Teppei Houjou was a pretty big man, probably around 113 kilograms (250 pounds), maybe even more. Someone as small as Satoko wouldn't have the body strength to even sway someone of that weight.

"Now that that is all confirmed, are we going to station or what, Ooishi. I mean, you'll probably piss my grandma off pretty badly if you try to arrest me, but ya know, it's all on your head." Mion said, shrugging.

Ooishi sighed, this time outwardly. He knew that he would really aggravate Oryou if he took Mion into custody.

Mion laughed again, and couldn't help but to point at his face, "She'll kill you! So either I'm home-free!" Mion said, holding her gut.

Rika smiled, partly at the fact that they had all baffled Ooishi, but also because it was hard not to with someone laughing hysterically near. "Ooishi-San, will you please leave? Satoko really needs more rest, and probably something to eat." she said, trying to escort him out.

He almost shook his head, but then realised just how unwelcome he had made himself, and the fact that he was nothing more but a clown to them. He nodded, and started to the door.

Rika politely guided him all the way through to the exit of her home. "Nipah~!" she left him with that.

She went back to the kitchen, where Satoko was standing at the kitchen sink, washing her face, and Mion was calming now from her earlier laughing fit. "Well, now that that's all resolved, is anyone hungry?" she asked, as she glanced at the clock. It was just past 1 in the afternoon, and normally they would have eaten lunch by this time.

"I'm starved!" Mion said, a smile still painted across her red face.

"I guess I'll eat." Satoko said, as she dried her face with a rag.

"Okay!" Rika said. She started to the fridge, before being stopped by Satoko. She turned to face her friend, who looked rather concerned.

"You had a fever earlier, why don't you sit, and I'll make the food." Satoko said, noticing the light pink flush on Rika's cheeks.

Mion than looked up, and said, "Why don't I help too? We can make dinner for the three of us, and it'll be easier if we all make it!" she said.

"Alright!" Satoko said. She had already began to pull ingredients out of the fridge.

"So, Rika, just go sit. You don't need to push yourself. Just let us take care of it." Mion said, getting up from her spot.

As the two prepared lunch for the trio, Satoko couldn't help but think that this was one of the best days of her life, and that it was only going to get better from there. No uncle or aunt, taking care of herself with Rika, being able to go to school everyday again, never worrying about what punishment she would have to deal with. Satoko, for once, felt free.


End file.
